Just
when we thought Brazil was either going to be the champions of the world Cup
2018, they got kicked out by the Red Devils, Belgium. It happened so quick as
no one expected the turnout of events.
The
Belgium team played with everything they had knowing that to defeat the king of
sport, you had to do something extra.
The
match which took place at Kazan in Russia was a memorable one as the team
players followed every of the coach's instruction to defeat the five time world
Cup champions. There maneuvering with the ball was simply aesthetic,
making every of their win spectacular. They did not give Brazil the
slightest opportunity as they countered every strike and pass.
Thomas
Meunier who had gotten a yellow card which automatically bans him from the
semi- final talked about the sacrifice each team mate had to subject themselves
to get a lead against Brazil. He furthermore gave a shout out to the three star
players in Belgium- Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and De Bruyne who were all at
their best during the match making every moment count.
Were
they motivated by the own goal scored by Fernandinho? It actually looked like
they pushed harder after that own goal. But according to one of their star
prized player Romelu Lukaku, the dark skinned, muscular built striker who has
stolen everyone's heart with his skillfulness and resourcefulness, they had a
game plan which they executed to perfection. It must have been a wonderful game
plan to push Brazil off at the semi-final qualifying stage. According to the
striker who set Kevin de Bruyne for a second winning goal that night, he had
told his teammates not to be scared of Brazilians, that as long as they
played as a team, they stood better chances of winning.
Belgium
coach Morouane Fellaini had nothing but praises for his squad. He said
"The world Cup is no respecter of talent, it only respect teams".
This statement is true looking at how world UEFA Champions League kings, Lionel
Messi and Christiano Ronaldo had crashed out of the world Cup with their teams
despite being champions in their clubs. World Cup winning is definitely not
about individual players, but how well the teams work together to achieve a
common goal.
Let's
take a look at Neymar, also one of the greatest footballers of his time, but he
too could not defend the whole team from Belgium's wrath.
According
to Belgium's boss, his players were resourceful on a psychological and human
level. But was that really the case? Were the Brazilian teammates not also
resourceful or was Belgium just destined to win the match since it is popularly
known that football is a game of luck especially when it comes to world Cup
championship.
We
would find out during their next match with France in the semi finals. But for
now they are allowed to back in the joy of getting to the semi final stage
after three decades of waiting